I’ve been watching loads of videos and reading loads of blogs recently by other fitness industry marketing experts. There really is some amazing stuff out there to help PTs.
But a few of the things I’ve seen and read got me thinking that there seems to be some confusion right now over the best way to get new clients.
It worries me that some of the information that’s out there could be damaging some PTs chances of success as some of it is – quite frankly – a bit misleading.
One expert said the key to a successful business is to be very good at what you do.
I couldn’t agree more.
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However, that’s just not the full story.
Our industry is brimming with truly exceptional, talented and motivational personal trainers who get incredible results for their clients. Sadly though, too many of them aren’t running successful businesses.
You may even be able to think of one of your competitors right now who you (secretly) think is a better trainer than you are but whose business isn’t doing as well as yours is.
So here’s the honest truth. Part one.
One of the keys to building a successful business, like that expert said, is to be as good as you can be at what you do.
But if that’s all you have, you aren’t going to be set-the-world-on-fire, earn-massive-money successful. Plain and simple.
It’s just not enough.
Another marketing guru from outside the fitness industry (incidentally, he’s a millionaire) said this: “I knew I wasn’t the best coach in my industry, so I had to be the best at marketing.”
Let’s think about that for a second.
He’s not the best. But to get results and build success for himself, he had to get great at marketing.
So let’s relate this to you and your potential empire.
You could be an awesome personal trainer, who gets by and wishes you earned more.
OR, you could be that same awesome trainer (I know you are) who builds the successful business and earns the life-changing money you know you want – and more importantly – deserve!
Just imagine the power you would hold in your hands if you were great at marketing too.
But here’s a really interesting fact for you.
You don’t even need to be the best at marketing either to get ridiculously fast and furious results to transform your business.
You need one thing, and one thing only.
And that is the right system.
A system you can set up quickly and repeat time and time again to get more clients, charge more money and have a bit more free time to work ON your business (rather than just IN it).
A system that allows you to market your business in a way that does it – and you – justice. (The awful truth is that most PT businesses’ marketing doesn’t do them justice AT ALL.)
There’s an incredibly simple formula to this marketing lark, which 90% of fitness businesses DON’T use.
Here it is:
- Get results for your clients
- Show potential clients the proof of your results
- Drive more potential clients to that proof
- Capture data from those people
- Build a relationship with them
- A proportion of them will buy from you
There are plenty of reasons why I guess many don’t do this.
Maybe they just don’t get the flow. Maybe they think they can’t set up the system or got some duff information from someone who told them that simply having a website would bring clients in.
If you want to create a massively successful business, you need a system which uses this formula.
You also need to influence your potential clients in a powerful way to increase your chances of them choosing to buy from you.
One sure fire way to do this is to hit several influence triggers.
This is a huge subject. But trust me it’s well worth doing a little reading up on influence triggers as they will help you to subtly alter your marketing to powerfully change your message.
Ultimately, using influence triggers will determine whether someone will buy from you.
Just briefly, some influence triggers are:
- Building authority and credibility (i.e. why should they choose you?)
- Making them like you
- Demonstrating social proof (i.e. show them evidence of the amazing results you get)
- Creating a desire to reciprocate (i.e. offer a free plan/guide/video and they will want to return the gesture)
- Developing scarcity (i.e. make access to you and your offer limited by time or quantity)
If you hit just a few of these in your marketing system, the results you get will leave competitors eating your dust.
And here’s the honest truth (part two).
If you’re going to create a business which is truly successful, you MUST build scalable, dependable marketing systems.
Referrals are brilliant. But they might dry up.
Free traffic is great. But it’s not guaranteed.
You may get some leads by messing around on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. But there’s no system in place to keep that regular.
At some point, you’re going to need to pay for traffic.
Your budget doesn’t need to be big. At all.
But paying for traffic is THE ONLY WAY to build scalable, dependable marketing systems online.
I totally get that not all businesses have a budget for marketing. And because of this, many PTs look for free ways to market themselves. I get it.
But – no matter how small you start – and I’m talking as little as a couple of ££s a day, once you start seeing a return on your money, you can build up from there and put in a little more as you gain confidence that you’ll earn more than you spend.
So let’s recap. You need to set up a system which incorporates a number of influence triggers. Here’s how they work together to get these amazing results:
- Get results for your clients (Build authority and credibility)
- Show potential clients the proof of your results (Demonstrate social proof)
- Drive more potential clients to that proof (More social proof when you allow comments, likes and shares, etc)
- Capture data from those people (Give something away to create a desire to reciprocate)
- Build a relationship with them (Make them like you)
- A proportion of them will buy from you (When you make them a limited time, limited quantity offer)
And, once you’ve set the system up, you need to pay for some traffic to see real, measurable results.
It might seem like a system like this would be complicated, time consuming and expensive. WRONG!
With the right information and support, you (yes YOU) could set this up in no time at all for as little as £20-£30. That’s right.
You could become the ‘go-to’ PT in your area. Fast. Because you get results. Because you’ve created a platform to tell everyone about the results and cleverly entice them to want to achieve the same as your current clients.
You might notice that I’ve not mentioned ONE THING about telling potential clients about yourself in your marketing.
There’s a very specific reason for this.
The way YOU look, YOUR qualifications and accreditations, YOUR achievements are secondary.
Your marketing MUST focus ONLY on your clients and the problems you can fix for them. It’s a given that you’re insured and qualified. It’s a given that you’re available locally.
What you need to get across to them is that YOU are THE one to fix their problem. NOW. You understand them. You’ve worked with people similar to them. You can get the results they want. Fast.
That’s it.
If you can remember that, your marketing will be off to a superb start.
Now go and create that system.
Here’s to your success!
Tim
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